I don't know about the rest of you but I get so tired of picking up after kids! I had my house totally clean last weekend, the minute the boys came in from my grandparents house on Monday morning it was a disaster area again. There is always something that doesn't belong there on my table. Usually bowls/plates from whatever they ate last and wrappers from poptarts and chip bags. I am just so tired of it!! I don't see why I bother to clean at all if they're just going to come behind and leave a mess that looks like a tornado hit. I've decided to take to pinterest and see if I can't find some way to organize that will keep the crap off the floor and the table.
I do have to say though that since I said I was getting rid of toys amd clothes that were left down here they have been careful about taking them upstairs. So at least they are picking something up.
And I just had a great idea while looking at pins. Its not really organization that I need. I need rules and limits on what is ok to snack on and when. So I have thought up a few rules to post in the kitchen for all the kids to see.
No more snacking all day.
You may have a snack between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner.
These snacks do not include chips, cereal, poptarts, cookies, or anything not in the following list;
Apples, oranges, grapes, cereal bar, strawberries, any other fruit.
You eat all meals at the table and snacks too.
You eat what we eat or you may make yourself a pb&j sandwich.
I'm sure I will think up some more. I'm tired of running out of everything and I'm tired of picking up the papers left behind from all day snacking. And I'm really tired of reaching for something to eat and finding what I want is gone.
So there we go. What are some of ypur rules for snacking and meal times?
The amount of planning that goes into a vacation with children astounds me. Seriously. Finding somewhere to go is the hardest part is seems though. Little Boy is only 5, so we're limited to what he can do and what will also be fun for him. We had originally though Disney World but it's just so far away and so expensive. It was going to cost us at minimum $3000. And that's just tickets for the parks. That's not counting food or hotel. Which I think is outrageous. So we nixed that idea and decided to wait and save that for another summer. It's not like you can grow out of having a good time at DW right?
So after realizing that was a no go we thought Six Flags. Which was fine with me. I'm not crazy about it because I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'll be the one sitting with Little Boy while D goes on all the rides with the other 2. But he kind of has it in his mind that we're going so I looked into it. For tickets and parking for the 5 of us, it'll be about $300. Which isn't too bad. But then you can't take food into the park, they only want you to eat there. So we're looking at another $100 for food (I estimated high because I know how those places work). So that's around $400 just for that place.
Another place I found was a children museum called Magic House. I found it while searching for somewhere to go in St. Louis lol. I'm kind of excited about it. We went to a childrens museum in Iowa a few years back and G and Little Boy loved it. So I can only imagine that all 3 of them will enjoy this one. The best part is that for all of us to get in it's only $50 lol. OK that's not the best part but it certainly helps me enjoy it a little more knowing that we're not paying half a mortgage payment to some place to entertain our heathens.
So just attractions are going to cost us at least $450-$500. Then we'll have to have a hotel room. *sigh* And I worked in a hotel at one point so I am not about to stay somewhere nasty. I have no desire to come home with bed bugs or roaches *shudder*. I'm guessing this will cost least $100 a night for a decent room.
Why does everything have to be so expensive?
On top of the planning of the actual vacation, I need to figure out how we're going to pack the car. I will hopefully be able to put all 3 kids clothes ect. in the same bag. If we're just going for a couple days then it shouldn't be a problem. D and I can share a bag I think. Then I think each kid should take a book bag of things they can use to keep them busy. Of course Little Boy will take his Innotab, I already have some movies he has never seen ready to go on it before we leave and I might get him a new game to play too I haven't decided yet. All 3 will probably take their DS's. I don't know what else. But I imagine they wouldn't have a hard time finding things to take.
I will also be taking snacks and drinks so I don't have to stop cause someone is hungry.
We're not going until July. I have tons of time to figure all this out. But that won't stop me from obsessing about it.
But I'm not. Obviously. I'm blogging at 2am. I can't help it, I haven't been sleeping worth a crap lately at night. Don't ask why I couldn't tell ya. Maybe its my Netflix ocd? I think I have to watch all seasons of a show at once. I can't help it. And since I missed the last 2 seasons of the L Word I have been trying to figure out what I missed. Not that there are any new episodes or anything but I've always wondered what happened.
Anyway- so that's whats going on tonight. Well that and I have this monster headache right now. I had it when I woke up this morning and I've been downing tylenol like its friggin jelly bellys all day and it just won't go away! I'm starting to wonder if maybe its the weather or something in the house that's causing it. Either way...effing annoying and ridiculously painful.
I guess I should go ahead and go to bed...since my phone is dying and this episode is almost over lol.
I have always been a TV watcher and now with Netflix and Hulu I watch more than I ever did before. So I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you :). Just the top 7 though cause I could be here all day if I talked about all of them lol. So here they are, in no particular order.
I discovered this show when it was originally on the air. I don't know why I got so addicted to a lesbian drama. I am clearly not a lesbian...I'm married with 5 kids lol. I like that it's the first one of its kind I guess. I'd never seen anything like it before and it sucked me in after the 1st episode of the 1st season. I missed a few seasons when D and I weren't living together. So I have to re-watch it so I'm not still wondering what the hell was going on lol.
The girls in my mommy group were constantly talking about this one. I found it on Netflix and watched the seasons they had on there, sometimes until 3am. And then when the new season started on Lifetime I was on that like white on rice. There are so many changes this season though and I don't know if I'm going to like it as much. Why do they have to get rid of characters?? It's annoying.
This show is all about this group of Army Wives living on a base and dealing with the drama that comes with being the wife of an enlisted man. Or woman in 1 guys case. I'm not sure about the newest seasons cast though. I haven't "met" them all yet.
Let me just say first and right off the bat I am TEAM BILL all the way!
OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way. I was looking for something good to watch one night and found this on on demand. I watched the first season in like 3 days lol. It's all about this telepathic waitress that falls for a vampire in the 1st season and drama and blood and death seem to follow her wherever she goes. It's amazing as hell. After watching the 1st season and doing some googling to find out more about it, I found out that it's based on a whole book series. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris. They're a light read but good heavens they're good! I've read them all at least twice. I check the authors website all the time to see if she's posting anything about the new (and I believe final) book coming out this May.
Set in the '60's and follows the people who work in the ad agency. It's so addictive! I put off watching it for so long and I'm sorry I did. When it first came out I kept hearing that it was great and suspensful and such, but it just didn't appeal to me. But thanks to (you guessed it) Netflix, I got bored one night and couldn't stop watching. It just pulled me in. It's one of those shows that you get so wrapped up in the characters that it's like everything they're doing, you're doing. At least for me. I don't know about others. Then again, this is their 6th season so they have to be doing something right, right?
Fairy tales are real and the only one that knows it is a 10yr old kid. He has to convince everyone else. I am a total fairy tale fan. All of them are here. Even the ones that I couldn't remember lol. Belle, Rumplestilskin, Snow White, and just all of them. I heart it. You can get the past seasons on Netflix (where I found it) but the most recent season is also on Hulu. So jump on and discover the awesomeness that is fairy tales :)
Basically this girl takes a job as a doctor in a small town even though she doesn't really want to be there and she doesn't fit in. The first season is all about figuring out how she's going to fit in and deciding if she's gonna stay. It's pretty good. I'm not super addicted or anything. But I do enjoy Wade ;)
Hello Everyone! I hope you had an a-may-zing Easter! We had a pretty low key one this year. Well, on second thought we have a low key Easter every year.
The little boy woke me up at 7am. Obviously every kid thinks the best bet for getting their basket/stocking/ect. is to send in the baby ;)
I'll just jump right into the pictures, I know that's what you're waiting for.
Our Easter Morning!
Flying a Kite at grandma and Paw Paw's Little boy got the kite but they only wanted to fly it for a few minutes before it got boring lol.
Easter egg hunting! I only have pictures of little boy cause the others took off out the door without me lol. Little goobers.
Sorting the loot!
So there you have it folks, our Easter 2013. How was your Easter?
This is us a year ago today. I could not have chosen a more amazing man to spend the rest of my life with. I love you more than you could possibly ever know.
My grandparents have been a huge part of my life for my entire life. Not like normal grandparents. Oh no. My grandparents raised my 2 brothers, my sister, and I. So when my mom called me the other night asked me if I knew of anything being planned for my grandpas birthday, and I said no, she said we needed to plan something. And so I helped. We decided on Steak N Shake cause that's somewhere he likes to eat. And I bought a cake (even though I was supposed to make it lol). It was my mom & her husband, my 3 kids & me (D had to work), my cousin & his daughter, my grandpa's brother & his wife, and my niece. It was a good time. Lots of laughs. I spent most of the time fawning over my niece whom I never get to see. It was a grand old time. And you know I took some pictures!
Pic 1: My niece & my mom, Pic 2: My cousins daughter, Pic 3: Drama Queen (and her new hair cut), Pic 4: My cousin, Pic 5: Paw-Paw & G, Pic 6: G giving Paw-Paw bunny ears lol, Pic 7: Little Boy (he said "Take a picture of me mommy!"..so I did lol), Pic 8: Paw-Paw, my grandmother (looking in the wrong direction), Paw-Paw's brother & his wife.
So there you have it :). I, of course ended up going home kidless. Which I do not mind one bit lol. I rarely leave a function with all 3 kids when my grandparents are there, everyone wants to go home with them instead. Goobers =P. Anyway- I hope he had a great birthday :).
At ages 15, 11, and 10 I would think you would be capable of picking up after yourselves. Obviously not. So I'm going to make a change to the way things are run around here. You may not like it, but since you don't pay the bills, I don't care :).
First of all- I am not the maid. Please do not forget this. I do not get paid for the work I do. When you have food on the table and clean clothes in your drawers it is because I love you and want you to have nice and clean things.
Second- The days of coming in and dropping your things inside the back door and running off to do whatever, are over. If I have to pick up or move your things, they will disappear. I should not have to tell kids as old as yourselves where your things go. You're not new around here. You know. Put them there, or lose them. End of story.
Third- If I have to pick up your things more than once to make them disappear, they will not be going "in my room" until you take better care of your stuff. Oh no. They will go to good will. I'm sure that if you don't care about an item enough to put it where it belongs, some other child will be happy to take it off your hands. Trust me.
Fourth- Trash goes in the trash can. Not on the bedroom floors (because you're not supposed to have food or drink upstairs anyway..and you are all 3 aware of this), the living room floor, or the kitchen table. It is just as easy for you to throw it away when you empty it as it is for me to pick it up once you're off doing something else. Because it's obviously pointless for me to say "I'm going to throw it away" as your punishment, I won't. Oh I'll still pick it up. Especially when you leave the garbage on my living room floor and then go home leaving me with the junk to clean up, obviously it's not going to sit there for a week. I will, however, have you clean the entire room, whichever one the garbage was found in. Maybe if you have to clean up other peoples junk you'll think twice about making me clean yours.
So there we have it. New rules. Deal with them or deal with the consequences. Your choice. Thanks.
Hoppin' down the bunny trail..hippity hoppity hippity hoppity Easters on it's way!
I am at a complete loss for what to put in G's Easter basket this year. The kid has always been hard to buy for and it's driving me absolutely friggin' crazy!
Then again I still don't know what to put in Little Boy's or Drama Queens baskets either. I got a few little things for both of them. I found Disney's Cars cars at Big Lots for $2each. which is a huge deal cause he looks at them at walmart and they're $6! Pfft. Not spending that on things they've been reselling for 7 years (at least). Sorry. D wants to get him some TMNT (Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtle) figures since he is so into them lately.
I'm thinking about getting them each a kite too :)
For Drama Queen I picked up some paper lunch bags with cupcakes on them, some erasers shaped like food, and that's it I think. I might pick up some $1 makeup at BigLots and put that in there. She has been really into makeup lately. Maybe some E.L.F. brushes? Never too early to learn about how to properly wear makeup. Especially when she had blue eyeshadow all over her eye area the other day.
G is just hard to shop for in general. He's into basically 2 things; all things military and all things police officer. It's kind of annoying actually. *sigh* Maybe I'll just go to the Army surplus store lol.
What are you putting in your kids Easter baskets this year?
